No doubt anyone who passionately loves their country will believe it is the best place in the world. But I suppose the Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau got it right when they said Solomon Islands was the “Islands lost in time”.
This is the final frontier, one of the last places in the world where something, someone is just waiting to be discovered, and in the Pacific, nothing much is known about the Solomon Islands.
The RAMSI intervention brought with it a lot of things, one of which is the possibility that there is so much potential that awaits. Stories are abound of RAMSI personnel who have come back to the Solomon Islands as businessmen and women. Which leads me to a topic that interests me, the level of interest investors have taken in the Solomon Islands.
I am not talking about just any investor but the real investors who actually own corporations and chains littering the Pacific and Asia. Had a quiet chat with a colleague and obviously there is a lot of interest in business opportunities we have in the country. There was an investor who flew in representing a large well known company with huge business interests in the Pacific and he has made a commitment to grow his business investments in the Solomon Islands.
Fijian mogul Hari Punja has put his mark on the Solomon Islands retail and wholesale market. He will be in for a tough competition as more and more investors come into the country. There is talk of FMF (Flour Mills of Fiji) moving into the country.
Investment from Papua New Guinea is not new, a lot of companies have come from PNG into the Solomon Islands. Bishop Brothers, Daltron, the Lamana Group (Heritage Park Hotel), Kramer Group are but a few of the business houses investing in the Solomon Islands.
To fully reinforce the thought that Solomon Islands is indeed the ideal location for business, think of it this way. We are 3 hours from Brisbane, 6 hours from Los Angeles, a one stop hop into Asia via Port Moresby and relatively closer to the Northern Pacific. Now did someone say that Fiji was at the epicentre of the Pacific. Think again – the only thing we do not have is an international air and sea port the size of Nadi.
Finally, I heard of a story from a very reliable source who said Lord Ashcroft was in town in 2009. Now for those residing in New Zealand and Australia, this name will ring a bell but I am told “everything Lord Ashcroft has touched has a way of turning out into great things”. That may be urban myth but the funny thing is – why on earth should a Lord slip into town unnoticed, spend time at the King Solomon Hotel much to his displeasure then found a jewel in the newly built Heritage Park Hotel and then slip out unnoticed again. Oh well, most of the big shot investors do slip in quietly from time to time. Digicel, Ashcroft and that Asian mogul were just some of the ones attracting some attention. They may probably have seen what I have seen, Solomon Islands may just be the final frontier!